Keep Your Head Up
by Moth Bolero
Summary: After a particularly awful fourth year Harry is alone on the streets of New York, forgetting how to have conversations and doing little else. One night, forcibly drawn out of self-imposed seclusion Harry is pulled into the world of the X-Men thanks to his insatiable need to help people. God help the poor kid. He needs it.
1. Newspaper Spoons

**(Author's Notes): Harry's fourth year was even more shit than canon, I'm sticking to the idea that the Dursley's were flat out abusive and Rowling downplayed things due to the series ultimately being young adult orientated, and I'm playing fast and loose with early to mid-aughts X-Men canon. Takes place during New Mutants Volume 2 issue #5. I know this is kind of a contrived coincidence to start the story, but I wanted to get things up and going here ASAP. All this chapter was written listening to Les Savy Fav's inches in case you're curious where some of my inspiration comes from.**

Harry had taken to living on the streets far easier than he expected, especially in a place like New York City. Where he'd expected that finding things to eat and places to safely sleep free from other living things to be difficult, he'd had no difficulty living off the huge amount of fresh produce grocery stores threw out everyday and sleeping in subways and parking garages no one seemed to ever go in at night. He didn't need to steal or beg at all to live functionally for the last few months. Granted he wasn't sure if what he was doing was really living. Existing was a more appropriate term for his current condition.

He was starting to forget what it was like living like a "civilized" person as opposed to a homeless squatter. He'd had nothing approximating a home cooked meal in his time on the streets, a bed of newspapers was the closest he'd had to a bed, and he'd taken to talking to himself to remember how to act human. He hadn't even had a shower in months! It was a major mystery how he wasn't causing people to drop dead from his stench now, it might have something to do with his magic, though he wasn't sure. He didn't have a wand anymore, though he was able to will accidental magic into happening. Making it not so accidental magic he supposed. Not that he really cared whether he had magic anymore. Magic was the reason for all his problems.

If he was honest though, he wanted to live like this. This was easy, just existing and nothing else. There was no expectations or standards for him to meet. People didn't know him by the scar on his forehead and acted he was some sort of hero. He wasn't even treated like "Just Harry" like he'd wanted for so long. No one treated him like anything to be honest. It helped he'd spoken to the fewest people he possibly could, able to count the number of conversations he'd had on his fingers alone, with a few to spare. Though most of those hadn't been so much as conversations as the other party being concerned for him as he tryed to get away as fast as he could without arousing suspicion.

It's not that he didn't appreciate someone taking an interest in him. He just…couldn't let someone get involved again. That and he didn't want anyone to start investigating him and his past. The fact that no one from Hogwarts or any Death Eaters had come for him meant that he wasn't able to be found by them. The fact that he hadn't been sent any passive aggressive letters about his accidental magic shenanigans lead more credence to that. When he'd been in that graveyard all he wanted was to go somewhere that no one from the magical world would bother him again. He was almost convinced now that was exactly where he wound up, especially since he'd never heard of Mutants or super heroes that apparently lived all over the world back in England. He'd read about them in the newspapers he'd been sleeping on. His Uncle would have never shut up about the "freakishness" of the world if there were such things. He wasn't a man that could ignore such an offense to his "normal sensibilities". Harry had the scars to prove it after all.

He was perfectly fine as he was now, free from anybody or anyone, free from the scar on his head, free from England. Free to continue to curl up in the pile of newspapers he'd stacked in the corner of a hotel's parking garage, near the door to a stairwell that connected to the hotel and a car that had one of those yellow locks he'd seen on cars near parking meters. The perfect place in case someone found him, which there was little chance of happening. Soon he'd be asleep, then he would wake-up, scrounge for food, come back here or find another place to sleep, then repeat. A routine he didn't have any interest in breaking.

Not too long after Harry had fallen asleep a huge crash came from behind the stairwell quickly followed by four teenagers running out into the garage. This was accompanied by several gun-toting people in masks and body armor running towards the teenagers. A part of Harry felt the immediate need to leap into action, to help, a part Harry thought had died. Just as the urge to help almost undid the conditioning three and a half months alone on the streets had done to Harry, the group of kids showed they were more than capable of fending for themselves. One of them, a tan-skinned girl with long brown hair, began to levitate as the wind started to blow all around her before she charged at one of the approaching masked persons. Another, tall and black, yelled at the others to run before mentioning he'd be fine as people there knew how to fight. The other two, a blonde girl and a brown-Haired boy Harry believed was "Goth" based on his clothing and piercings, ran in another direction before being stopped by more mask wearers who took the chance to fire at them. Harry instantly snapped away from the urge to help and instead crawled under the neighboring car, deciding to wait for his chance to dive into the stairwell and flee.

The teens, who he assumed were mutants, seemed to be doing well, the blonde-haired girl somehow got the masked people to run away screaming from her. Then he noticed that the "Goth" one, he was fairly certain he was "Goth" as he matched a description of "Goth" Harry had read from his Newspaper bed one night, had ran away too and was pressed up against the wall removing one of his glove and screaming for the girl to stop using her powers. Harry suddenly found himself rolling from under the car and running towards the girl, as just behind her was a man with a blade extending from his wrist. The desire to help had been revived and Harry ran as fast as he could towards the man, feeling something rise inside himself, something that he was becoming more and more familiar with. Just as the man was about to grab the girl Harry forced out the feeling with a scream, a blast of kinetic force blindsiding the man and sending him careening into a concrete support pillar. All four of the teens and the remaining people in armor turned and stared at Harry, save for one of the people in armor, who's helmet had been knocked off revealing a head of blonde hair and a pierced eyebrow, who took the opportunity to run into the stairwell. Harry made note of him as he turned away from the two staring at him, trying to decide whether to run or talk his way out of the mess he'd just gotten himself in.

XXXXXXX

Kevin Ford and Laurie Collins stared at the person who'd just saved the two of them, one from possible death and the other from hurting one of his only friends, a short and scrawny boy of indeterminate age dressed in dirt covered rags with a wild mop of black hair down to his chin. He was wearing glasses held together by tape and more than a little luck in front of his large green eyes that almost seemed to be glowing with how bright they were.

The boy lowered his hands and wrapped them around his elbows as he turned to stare at the floor, almost as if he wanted to disappear. Sofia Mantega and David Alleyne ran to join Kevin and Laurie in staring at Harry closely and the people in armor took the opportunity to start running before most of them suddenly froze in place, just as two women entered the garage and approached the gathered group of kids. The four quickly realized it was Dani and Shan, the two women who were chaperoning their supposed field trip to New York City which had quickly taken a turn for the worst.

The boy turned to face all of them with an odd expression but quickly reverted to staring at the ground before speaking in a voice that was dry and hoarse, as if he'd barely spoken in months. "I don't suppose there's any chance of you all forgetting about this completely and letting me go back to my newspapers is there?" They all quickly noticed he had an English accent, making him that much more mysterious.

Dani responded with a warm smile on her face as she took a step closer, "Maybe we can. Maybe we can't. But first, why don't tell you us your name."

The boy looked up at her through the curtain of black hair that was covering his bespectacled face, torn between smiling back or just trying to maintain a neutral expression, leading to him wearing an awkward grimace as he spoke in his raspy excuse for a voice, "Harry. Just Harry."

Dani stepped forward and put an arm on his shoulder as she spoke, "Well Just Harry, just let us clean up this mess here and then we'll see about maybe forgetting you. Or not."

Harry quickly realized there was no chance he was going back to his pile of newspapers and more than likely was going to be dragged back into the world of living and not just existing. The part of him that had driven him to intervene in the mess he'd just encountered was excited at the prospect of actually talking to people again and not just having newsprint for company by choice. The rest of him, the part that retreated from being a normal human being, as normal as he could be while living on the streets at least, was more excited at the idea of taking a shower again and honestly wasn't looking forward to relearning the rules of human interaction he forgot on purpose.

 **(Author's note): More coming soon.**


	2. Somewhere Only We Know

**(Author's Note): Thanks for the support. Didn't expect to get so many favorites and follows for the first chapter of my first fanfic. Hopefully some of you will leave a review after this as well.**

Harry was trying his absolute best to implode through sheer force of will, being under the scrutiny of five people after three months with nothing but newspapers and his increasingly manic thoughts for company was just as awful as he expected. They were all currently sitting in silence in a diner that was mostly empty. One of the four kids, Sofia believed her name was, was currently visiting with a friend of hers or something based on the interactions he had seen with her and an older black man named Derek. The other five of them, Harry had been doing his best to be a non-entity, torn between trying to give them the slip and maybe being a person again, had decided to get something to eat. Currently they were waiting for a waiter to take their orders, trying to coax Harry into a conversation.

"So where are you from Just Harry?" The question came from a woman who'd introduced herself as Danielle Moonstar, she'd insisted on him calling her Dani though. This was also a question she'd asked earlier, to which Harry responded with "here and there. Mostly there."

Harry let out a long sigh as he finally gave in, there was no point in being clammed up like this. He could tell Dani wasn't going to stop talking to him till he gave in and he supposed it was rather rude of him to neglect the other kids, all of who were a little older than him. Especially since the tall black one, David, had given harry his hoodie, insisting Harry couldn't be comfortable in the rags he was in.

He took a drink of water and cleared his throat, trying to clear away some of the rasp before speaking. "I'm from England. Surrey. South of London. Well I was from there. I think it's more appropriate to say I'm from nowhere now. No one really wanted me there." The rest of the people at the table were a bit surprised that Harry had willingly replied, they'd all tried and got little more than yes, no, or a thank you.

The Asian woman, Shan she said her name was, chimed in, "I take it that your parents didn't take well to you being a mutant then?"

Harry took another drink of water, suddenly realizing how dry his throat was. When was the last time he'd had something to drink again? A few days ago?

"Aunt and Uncle. My parents died when I was a baby." Harry thought carefully about how much more he was willing to tell them all for now, opting to simply tell only part of the truth.

Laurie, the blonde girl quickly responded, "I'm sorry Harry. That's awful"

"It's fine. I made my peace with it a long time ago." He looked down at the table before turning back to Shan. "To answer you question, no they didn't. They like being "normal." I was anything but that in their eyes. I didn't spend much time with them the last few years though. Just summers. My parents had set up for me to go to the boarding school they went when I was eleven."

David asked the next question, "What school?"

Harry almost hit himself, regretting mentioning Hogwarts even vaguely. "You've probably never heard of it. It's a school that provides for a very specific group of people and doesn't teach anything other schools do." Harry's mostly solemn expression faltered as he spoke, his eyes sinking in and taking on a haunted look. Everyone could tell that line of questioning was done.

Kevin, the boy Harry thought was "Goth" but didn't seem to completely match the gloomy demeanor Harry thought was associated with them, spoke next. "So how long have you been…"

Just as he began trailing off Harry replied in a surprisingly chipper manner, "Living like a hermit that dresses in filthy rags, eking out a meager existence by foraging from the dumpsters behind supermarkets, slowly descending into newsprint fueled madness? About three months. Give or take a week or two." The rest of the table froze for a moment, taken aback by the sudden liveliness the boy was showing, before bursting into mild chuckles at his rather candid description of his living conditions. "It's not that bad by the way. Sometimes you find apples that aren't those disgusting red ones. Sometimes you wind up sleeping in places like behind concert venues. Though I wouldn't recommend my policy of not talking to people whatsoever unless you absolutely can't avoid it. You wind up fixating on odd things looking for human comforts. Personally, I've developed a rather unhealthy connection to a pile of newspapers I was using as a bed." More chuckles came and went quickly as they fell into an awkward silence at the fact that there really wasn't much to laugh at in Harry's words.

Shan spoke up again, "So, do you know about the Xavier Institute"

"For higher learning? Yes, I do, read about it in my pile of newspapers. Is that where you all are from? Would make sense as I don't normally see groups of mutants be accosted by men in funny body armor or rather slimy looking men that have razor blade attachments on their wrists."

Dani shot an irritated glance at Shan and leaned over to whisper, "Come on Shan, be careful. We don't want to spook him." She turned to Harry and smiled warmly. "Yes. We were here looking for a possible student and for Sofia to meet with her guardian."

"That's nice…" Harry knew what she was going to ask next.

"Would you like to come with us to the school? It's a place for people like us to be safe. Where you can learn how to use your powers safely." Harry nearly laughed at the irony of his situation. Freed from Hogwarts just when the school had gone from a home to a prison only to find himself at the doorstep of a school quite similar-to it not too much later.

"…Would I have to stay? If I didn't like it?" Harry decided that it couldn't be as bad as Hogwarts and if it was really his choice to be there then there's no reason why it wasn't worth a try, right?

Dani's smile seemed to brighten a bit, "It would be your choice entirely. Even if you didn't like it there I'm sure we could find you somewhere to live at the least."

Harry looked down, trying to decide if it was worth taking the chance.

Laurie spoke up, "You should come Harry. We'd help you get used to things. Right?" She looked to Kevin and David who both nodded and spoke in agreement.

"Definitely."

"For sure."

Before Harry could respond the waitress finally arrived to take their orders, leaving Harry a moment alone with his thoughts to try and work through his options. He sat for a few minutes before Dani put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, the waitress was giving him an expectant look. After apologizing several times, he ordered a hamburger and tried not to let his embarrassment get the better of him. When the waitress left them, Harry took the opportunity to change the subject from him coming with them.

"If you all are mutants that means you have mutant powers, right? Or is that rude to ask about? I'm not well versed in the do's and don'ts of this."

Shan responded, "No, you're fine Harry. It's a fine question to ask. My power is psychic possession, it lets me take control over people's bodies and treat them as extensions of my own. I also have some more general telepathic abilities as well."

"Handy." Harry tried not to react strongly to the idea of someone not only being able to read his mind but also put him under what sounded like an even more powerful Imperius curse. Shan didn't seem like people he'd associate with either of those anyways. She seemed nice. Inviting.

Dani went next, "I can project mental illusions from people's minds. Usually their greatest fears. Sometimes greatest wants. I can do a few other illusions."

"I wouldn't recommend doing that to me in front of others then, assuming other people can see them. I have some rather dark fears." Harry kept a smile the best he could, this was another power that brought back harsh memories. She could generate the same effect as a boggart at will. While they weren't capable of everything he could do, assuming he still had his wand, they had access to abilities that were still incredibly dangerous. Joy.

Dani's smile faltered a bit and gained visible concern, "I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

Kevin went next. "I have a death touch that I can't turn off. I touch anything organic and it starts turning to dust."

"Oh, that must not be very fun. I'm sorry." Harry felt genuinely awful for Kevin, if he couldn't turn off a power like that there's no way he could touch people. It also explained how he didn't have any bare skin at all besides his neck and head.

Kevin gave a grimace, "It's okay. I try to think of it as a gift. I'm gonna learn to control it and become an X-Men." There was a weight to his words that Harry knew meant that he had a history.

"Something tells me you will." Harry gave the best smile he could muster. He wasn't the only person at the table who'd had struggles obviously. That made him relax a bit more. Misery loves company after-all.

Laurie explained her powers next. "I have pheromones that let me control people's emotions. I don't have great control over them right now though, so I usually just make people feel what I'm feeling on accident." Harry took note that like Kevin, Laurie obviously had some history with poor control over her powers or something with the way her expression changed as she kept speaking.

David went last, "I have a sort of telepathy that let's me know everything that the people around me know. Makes figuring out what I know and what other people know pretty hard sometimes."

"…Seems like all three of you have it hard with your powers." He turned to Dani and Shan, "And I imagine that both you must have had issues at first. Mutant powers don't seem to be something very fun for anybody. Harry felt awful, he'd been more concerned with the implications of Shan and Dani's powers as destructive forces and not how they struggled with them. Hearing the three people his age detail the fact that it wasn't all fun and games and their abilities could hurt them just as much as others. He'd been alarmingly quick to worry about the possible dangers two of the people who seemed to be genuinely concerned for him posed to him. If he was foolish he'd chalk it up to his current state from living on the streets for so long, which he knew wasn't that long in the grand scheme of things and in comparison to the years others had found themselves homeless for. If he was honest he would blame it more on the last year of his life and his ever growing disconnect from other people.

Dani and Shan shared a look. The kid they'd happened upon had some obvious baggage. Dani spoke next, "So how about you Just Harry? What can you do? Kinetic blasts?"

Harry thought for a moment, trying to find a way to word things that wouldn't lead to questions he couldn't easily avoid. "No. Well, yes. Seeing as you saw me do that. It's more that I can… do things." Harry once again felt a need to hit himself, this time for making himself look so stupid.

Laurie giggled in response, "Do things? Like what exactly? That's not much of a description Harry."

"I know. Sorry. I just didn't know how to sum it up so easily like you all did…" Harry figured he'd continue telling only partial truths as that seemed to be working so far. "When I first started having things happen I thought it was magic. I turned my teacher's wig blue when I was in grade school. Another time I was being chased by… a group of other children who weren't very fond of me and suddenly found myself on top of the school roof. The best way I can describe it is that when I'm particularly emotional or want something done with all my being then it happens. At least that how it was for a while. It's different now. I'm not sure how to describe it to you all as I don't perfectly understand it myself."

Before anyone could respond their food had arrived and Harry was quickly scarfing down everything on his plate, much to the amusement of everyone around him. Dani turned to Shan and motioned for her to follow her to the bathroom before excusing herself.

Shan quickly stood to do the same before turning to the three students watching Harry eat, "We'll be right back. Try and make sure he doesn't choke okay?" Harry barely noticed any of the interaction, too focused on eating food that wasn't overripe and actually cooked.

Dani was leaning against the bathroom door waiting for Shan, "I think he's a reality warper. Like Wanda Maximoff."

Shan nodded in agreement, feeling the assumption was warranted. "It's pretty lucky we found him like we did then. Powers like what he described are incredibly dangerous in untrained hands, let alone a teenager." She then turned to see Harry coughing as David was patting him on the back, Laurie and Kevin unable to suppress their laughter. "He's a good kid though. Perceptive too."

"Were you reading his emotions?"

"No, not consciously. But he's putting out a lot of heavy emotion it's hard to block out, which is weird as I'm not that strong an empath… Whatever he's been through Dani, it's a hell of a lot more than what a kid his age should have experienced."

XXXXXX

Several hours later, Harry found himself outside the gates of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The four kids had run ahead and were speaking to a woman that Laurie had called mom. Dani wasn't too far behind them. Shan had stopped with Harry in front of the gates, waiting for him to pass through with a smile.

Harry turned to her and let some of the doubt that was swarming in his head show on his face, "Dani wasn't lying right? I can leave anytime I want?"

Shan put a hand on his shoulder, noting that he was trying not to flinch as she did so, and spoke warmly. "This school is a choice Harry. Your choice."

Harry looked away from her and towards the school, "I don't think I've ever gotten to make a choice like this before." He took a deep breath and walked through, quickly being noticed by the rest of the people he'd arrived with.

Laurie stepped forward as he approached and gestured at him while speaking to her mother. "This is Harry mom. The boy we met."

Harry smiled as the woman extended her hand for a handshake which he reciprocated. "It's nice to meet you Harry. My daughter was telling me you got her and everyone else out of a sticky situation."

Harry scratched at the back of the head and tried not to blush, he was still so awful with praise at all. "It was nothing ma'am. I just did what anybody else would do in that situation."

Sofia chimed in in response, "I do not know about that Harry. Not many people other than mutants can send a grown man flying like you did."

Harry shrugged in response, "Probably a good thing that's the case."

Everyone present made small talk for a moment when a man and two children came through the front door quickly followed by a bald man. The two children quickly ran to Shan who gave them both a hug as they started rambling on about a million things at once. The man instantly reminded Harry of Dumbledore. He wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Good to see you all back." He then turned to Harry, though he seemed to be speaking to Dani at first when he opened his mouth, "I see you managed to find a prospective student after-all? My name is Charles Xavier. This is my school."

Harry was uncomfortable. Something about this man set him on edge. "It's nice to meet you sir. I'm Harry. I was told that… this is a place for mutants. To be safe. And learn." Harry was once again forced to remember the irony of his situation.

"It is. Why don't we go up to my office and discuss this further there?"

Harry turned to the rest of the people gathered, his anxiety suddenly feeling like it was going to swallow him.

David spoke with a smile, "We'll see you later today, alright Harry? I need my hoodie back after all."

"We'll give you a tour!" Sofia's exuberance was instantly infectious, making Harry felt a bit better, even more so when everyone else he'd met earlier nodded in agreement.

"Dani, Shan, would one of you mind coming with us? I imagine Harry might be more comfortable if he has at least one somewhat familiar face around."

Dani nodded in affirmation and followed with Harry in tow. Shan and her siblings followed soon after that. leaving Shan with her younger siblings and the other teens with Laure's mom.

XXXXXX

Later, Laurie, David, Sofia, and Kevin sat watching the stars on the lawn near the gate to the school.

David broke his gaze from the sky and turned to his left to look at Laurie, who was blowing dandelions. "So, Laurie, I didn't know your mom lived nearby."

Laurie picked another dandelion as she spoke, "She moved here when I came to the school. She gets worried about me."

Kevin chimed in from his spot next to her, "That's really awesome of her."

Sofia spoke next, "I agree. Having family nearby is a great thing." She picked a dandelion herself before focusing a bit and causing a small gust of wind to blow through the weed. "Do you think Harry is going to actually wind up going here? He seemed so conflicted about it."

"I hope he does. Seems like it would be good for him. He looked so scared a few times when we talking to him." Laurie was twirling the stem of one her already blown dandelions as she spoke.

"I think he will. Besides, he was talking to us quite a bit when we on our way back here." Kevin was watching Laurie rather intently now as she twirled the dandelion.

"Did any of you notice how he barely said anything about himself though? Whenever we asked a question he'd either not answer it or give an oddly vague one that only seemed like part of the truth." David was looking back up at the stars now, a contemplative look on his face. "He seemed like he was trying his hardest to say as little about himself as possible, even though it seemed like he wanted to say more at times."

Sofia's face took on a doubtful expression, "Maybe you are just over thinking things David. He was living on the streets in New York City of all places. He probably just needs some proper rest and will be much more open about himself."

"He probably just needs friends more than anything. People that make him feel comfortable." Laurie was still messing with the same dandelion stem, trying to hide a blush from noticing how often Kevin was sneaking looks at her.

They all sat in a comfortable silence before Shan walked up to them. "The Professor was hoping to see you all. He wanted to speak to you about something."

The four of them stood and began following her back into the school, Kevin running up beside her. "So, is Harry going to stay?"

Shan smiled, "You can ask him when we get to the professor's office."

They all walked in silence till reaching the door to the professor's office. Inside Harry was speaking with Dani and the professor, who all turned to look at them.

"Ah, good. I have two things to speak to you all about. First, I thought you all might be interested in knowing that Harry has officially decided to enroll here." The adults in the room watched with a smile as the four of them crowded around Harry, speaking animatedly about how glad they were he'd decided to stay.

"Second. I've also decided to institute a new policy of sorts, where every student has a faculty member act as an advisor of sorts for them all. Shan here recommended, and I happened to agree with her, that the students should choose their advisor."

The five of them quickly made clear they wanted Danielle as their advisor. "Alright, alright. I get it Charles. I'll be a teacher here."

"Excellent. Just one more matter before I let you all go. David, would you be willing to have Harry as your roommate?"

David smiled and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "No problem professor."

Harry quickly interjected, "You don't have to do that David, really. You're not obligated to me or anything"

"Harry, it's fine. I said yes right? C'mon, let's go get you settled in. Maybe see if we can find you some clothes other than those rags and my hoodie." Harry blushed in response as he nodded.

Kevin opened the door for them and spoke, "I might have some things that fit, or at least fit better than what you have David, you're a lot bigger than Harry or me. We can stop by my room." David lead Harry out the door with Sofia and Laurie close behind before Kevin walked out and closed the door behind him, leaving Dani, Shan, and Charles alone in the room.

"They seem to have bonded quite quickly." The professor leaned back into his chair and sighed. "I suppose we should discuss how we're going to get him to open up more. He was very sparse with the information he was willing to give me. He almost seemed like he was going to absolutely insist on not giving us his last name."

Dani folded her arms and responded dryly, "We should give it time professor. He's probably exhausted and probably will be trying to get used to life here. The kid was on the streets and seemed like a deer in the headlights a lot of the time I've talked to him."

"I'll trust your judgement Dani. I just hope he realizes this is a good place for him to be. If he really does possess abilities like Wanda's as you suspect, then I have no doubt the name Harry Potter is going to start attracting attention from the wrong sort of people."

After that the professor said his goodbyes to the two of them, leading to them starting to walk back to their rooms. Shan spoke up soon after they left the office after noticing the look of deep thought on Dani's face, "Harry will be fine Dani. He's already made some great friends and we'll be sure to help him out. Just give him time, like you said."

"I know Shan. There's just something about him though. He went through something, something awful, recently at that."

Shan stopped in front of Dani and put her hand on her shoulder, "Lot's of kids here have Dani. A lot of the adults too, us included."

"I know Shan, but I think it's something much worse than what even Kevin went through. Something on the level of what we went through when we were in the New Mutants."

Shan's eyes widened, "Dani, he's definitely got some baggage but he's just a kid from England. Not some refugee from some hellscape."

"Dani, you're the one with empathic ability. Watch him a bit closer, when he thinks people aren't looking. There's this look in his eyes. He's haunted."

XXXXXX

Later that night, Harry lay in a bed that was all his own, reveling in the feeling of just having taken a shower after months without one. David had insisted he keep the hoodie and Kevin had given him a pair of pajamas to wear and some clothes for the next day, Harry hadn't tried to protest, knowing at this point the two of them were rather tenacious. David was in his bed on the other side of the room, reading a book. Harry crawled under the covers, still praying that he wouldn't suddenly wake up in his pile of newspapers any moment. There were definite complications that awaited him being at this school, but even after just mere hours of interacting with people again he quickly realized that he couldn't go back to how things were just this morning. Especially now that he'd taken a shower.

Harry lay still for a bit longer before speaking up, noticing that some of the rasp in his voice had cleared up, "Hey David."

David lowered his book and looked at Harry. "Yeah Harry?"

"Thank you."

"I feel like I should be the one thanking you Harry. You're the person who saved Laurie and helped us all out big time." David had sat up and turned to face Harry now, prompting him to do the same.

"I know… but thank you nonetheless. It might sound weird, but you all did a big favor for me today. I don't know how much longer I could've kept living like I was to be honest. You all really helped me." Harry was trying hard to keep eye contact, David deserved at least an attempt from him to remain engaged.

David smiled. "It's no problem. That's what friends are for right?" He laid back down and went back to his book, leaving a wide eye Harry to himself.

"You're right… that is what friends are for…" David quirked an eyebrow from behind his book and shot a glance over at Harry.

He was staring at the ceiling, fists clenched tight and tears streaming down his eyes, a few catching on his scrap metal glasses.

 **(Author's Note): Another chapter down and Harry's officially part of the school. Next chapter will be entirely original material and will start exploring all the implications of Harry being the person to save Laurie and not Josh. Speaking of which, all you Elixir fans don't have to worry. He'll be in the school soon, but things are going to be very different with Harry currently firmly cemented in the place he normally fills and Kevin still around. Butterfly effect and all. A few other surprises will be in there as well.**


	3. A Slow Unfolding of Wings

**(Author's Note): Quick note on time and chronology, as due to the nature of comic books and writing with material drawn from several of them I have to do some clarifying. The story is currently set around the start of the Summer right after the "Riot at Xavier's" arc from Grant Morrison's New X-Men run and before "Murder at The Mansion", which quickly leads into the remaining arcs before Morrison's run ends and Emma and Scott take over as heads of the school. I'm greatly expanding the gap between these two arcs to make everything flow well as it lets me cover all of New Mutants Volume 2 and not have to avoid Harry interacting with the major X-Men characters from the time. After Noriko is reintroduced though things will quickly move into the final arcs of Morrison's run then we get into Academy-X material, which is what this fic is going to be following before I obliterate canon rather quickly. Before you comment about how this conflicts with the timeline of Harry's fourth year as Harry was living on the streets of New York for three months, meaning he would have left Hogwarts in March, I know. This is intentional. Harry did not have a good time at all his fourth year and it dramatically changed what happened. Also, thanks for all the follows and the favorites. I appreciate it, really. If you like what I'm doing leave a review if you have the time. Feedback helps me figure out what works and what doesn't.**

Harry woke breathing heavily, covered in sweat and on the verge of a heart attack. He quickly tore himself from the bed, scooping up the clothes Kevin had given him the night before. He rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him, panic overriding any of the concern he would have had for waking up David, who did just that. The older teen got up from bed, rubbing his face to work off the drowsiness still clouding his senses.

A moment later David felt awake enough to check in with his new roommate, "Harry? You okay?"

In the bathroom Harry was currently staring in the mirror, trying to assure himself that he was still himself. His eyes were still green, his hair was still the wild black curtain over his face it'd grown into as of late, and his veins weren't black and visible. There was only Harry here.

David was growing a little worried now, "Harry?"

Harry snapped out of the daze he'd been in while trying to figure out if he was still him and responded in as a convincing manner as he could muster, "Oh, I'm just fine David! My stomach was a tad upset! I'm so sorry for waking you up!"

David wasn't convinced he was being honest but chose not to press him, "Okay Harry. We're up a bit early but the others shouldn't be asleep much longer. We can both get ready for the day then we'll see about giving you a tour."

Harry let out a sigh as he tried and failed to stop a small smile from growing on his face. "Thank you, David. I'm really sorry for waking you up like I did… and sorry for lying to you like that right after. I'm not used to people caring very much. I had a bad dream."

David frowned, none of what Harry said was particularly positive but it was nice he was already willing to open up a bit. "It's really fine Harry, it's seven thirty, I usually get up at eight. Thirty minutes of sleep isn't worth getting even annoyed about. I'll let you take a shower or whatever."

Harry's reply was muted, as though he was trying to swallow the urge to apologize again, "…Thank you." Harry did just that, still feeling like a bit of dirt and grime was still on him, the sweat he was covered in from his dream didn't help either.

David got dressed before sitting down on his bed, quickly slipping in to some deep thinking. He'd only known Harry for a day but already there was something concerning him. He was so quick to apologize for something and seemed to want someone to chastise him, like there was no way for him to be in the right. Then were the things that he knew how to do when he was around Harry thanks to his powers. They were muddled and unclear, like he was trying to read something reflected in a dirty mirror, but what he could make out was strange. It seemed like some form of occult knowledge, but he wasn't sure, things like strange medicinal recipes and names and images of strange creatures he was sure only existed in myth and folklore. Harry just seemed to have more and more mystery surrounding him. If he didn't seem so… like himself then David would probably be suspicious of the younger boy. As he was he couldn't see Harry as threatening in the slightest. He just saw someone who needed help and support even though they felt like they didn't deserve it, someone he was glad to do that for.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Harry exiting the bathroom, dressed in the pair of black jeans and the black long-sleeve shirt Kevin had given him. Harry was thankful for clothes, especially long sleeves as they did a better job of hiding the angry red scar running down his right arm than the rags his previous clothes had become, though he wasn't sure about the color. It also didn't help just how big the shirt was and if he hadn't been given a belt the pants would surely be falling off him.

Harry chuckled as gestured at himself, "I'm not sure black is exactly my color."

David cracked a smile as he stood, "Yeah, I think something like red or green would suit you better. We'll talk to Dani about getting you some actual clothes later."

Harry went wide eyed at the mention of red and green, immediately thinking back to Hogwarts and the school colors he was surrounded by, but quickly put himself back together, though not quickly enough for David to notice his strange reaction.

"Uh, I know you said it's early but I'm really quite hungry right now. I think after having something substantial after so long last night my body realized just how little I was running on. Is there any chance of breakfast soon?" Harry was wearing an apologetic face David felt like he was going to be very familiar with.

David smirked and walked towards the door, "Yeah, let's go get Kevin then we'll head down. Breakfast starts at eight thirty, so you won't have to wait long."

The two of them walked the short distance down the hall to Kevin's room, David knocking on the door. "Hey Kevin, Harry's starving and I could use a bite myself. Wanna come down to breakfast with us?"

Kevin opened the door dressed and ready to go, "Of course." The three of them started walking towards the stairs of the dorm and Harry quickly noticed that there were no other students present.

Harry turned to David as they walked, "This school has a lot less people than I expected to be honest. It's the only school for mutants, right?"

"It's Summer Harry, plus most of the people on campus are teenagers. They like to sleep. Speaking of teenagers though, how old are you Harry?" David had just realized he had no real idea about what his roommates age could be, he was younger than him and probably Kevin, but he wasn't the much younger right?

"It's just now July, right? So, that means I'm almost fifteen. My birthday is July thirty-first." Harry was fairly certain he was right, though he could be wrong. His newspaper bed was old when he'd first started using them months ago and he hadn't been too concerned with the date.

"So, you're about a year and half younger than me and Sofia, two years and a bit younger than David, and like eight months younger Than Laurie." Kevin was surprised, he'd though Harry was a good bit younger than almost fifteen.

Harry saw the look on Kevin's face and knew what he was thinking, "I know. I look younger."

"Oh no, I mean, I didn't!" Kevin really hoped he hadn't just insulted him inadvertently.

"It's fine Kevin. Really. I know I'm pretty small and I know that I look rather young in the face. Don't feel bad. You weren't mocking me, right?"

"No, not at all. I was just a little surprised." Kevin still felt a little mad at himself.

"Well maybe getting Harry something to eat will help with. I imagine having a decent diet again will probably help at least a bit." David had to stop himself from adding the fact Harry was scary thin, he didn't want risk to insult him like Kevin almost had.

Harry grimaced and sighed, "Honestly, anything is better than over-ripe fruit and mostly rotten veg. I never thought I would miss some of the food they insist on serving in England but at this point I'm fairly certain I'd be pretty happy with British comfort food for the rest of my life."

Kevin smirked, "So the stereotype about British food being awful is true?"

Harry shook his head, his hair winding up even messier somehow, "Not really, it's more that there are certain things I've had so much or have never been particularly fond of that I actually wouldn't mind now. Having a hamburger last night reminded me that food could be exciting, not just… something you need to live." Harry started to frown, suddenly even more conscious of just how miserable he'd been living less than twenty-four hours ago.

David smirked before responding, "Well whatever you wind up getting, try not to swallow it whole this time okay? Don't need you dying from something innocuous and pointless like that."

David and Kevin laughed at Harry's indignant response, "Hey! I was hungry! And I'd never had a hamburger before!"

Kevin's eyes went wide, "What? You'd never had a hamburger before? How is that even possible Harry?"

Harry ran a hand through his hair and mumbled his response, bad memories threatening to surface, "I just hadn't. Aren't many burger places where I grew up and my school was the last place you'd find one. They had some rather old conventions for food. I didn't even really realize it was my first time having one until now if I'm honest."

At this point the three of them were outside of the entrance to the boy's dorm when they saw two familiar faces headed towards them from the girl's dorm, waving all the way.

Sofia and Laurie ran up to them, the former smiling widely, "This is a great coincidence! We were just coming to get you all."

David responded, "Harry and I woke up early, so we got a head start. We should get moving though, Harry's starving."

"I imagine so. Laurie mentioned how hungry you were at the diner yesterday Harry."

Harry sighed, though he had a small smile on his face, "Oh, dear lord, I've only known you all for less than a day and I already have something I'm not living down."

Kevin cracked a joke in response, "Relax Harry. I'm sure you'll embarrass yourself some other way and we'll pick on you for that instead."

Laurie interjected next, "Oh, lay off him all of you. Let's get to breakfast already."

The five of them walked quickly pointing out a few other buildings in the school and what they were, Harry trying and failing to compare it all to Hogwarts. He wasn't sure it was a fair comparison, Hogwarts was over a thousand-year-old castle in the Scottish Highlands. This was a rather nice estate turned private school in upstate New York. Though Harry wouldn't go back to Hogwarts even on threat of death he couldn't deny the majesty the school possessed. Though Xavier's was a definite change of pace, the smaller size making things feel homier. He imagined it was quite nice going here even when there are actual students everywhere.

They all arrived in the cafeteria moments later to see that a good number of students and faculty were already present and eating. Harry was surprised he wasn't surprised at all the different shapes and sizes of people he saw, not even flinching at some of the people who looked just barely human. Though the little girl with wrinkles and grey hair holding on to a chain connected to a floating brain in some container was a tad odd even by his standards. He also took note that some people were dressed in rather striking costumes, assuming that they were actual X-Men like the ones he'd seen in the papers.

Harry met the woman in charge of much of the food prep, a rather nice middle-aged woman named Marilyn with an extra set of arms named for the actress, who was all too happy to provide him with a borderline mountain of food on a tray, ranging from fruit to a mess of bacon. Harry quickly then made his way over to where his friends were sitting and talking, quickly digging in to the pile of food. Normally he'd be much more considerate and have taken way less to eat, he had a few hang-ups about table manners stemming from his childhood.

After swallowing a bunch of bacon, he muttered an apology. "Sorry, I just. I'm really hungry. I didn't even realize how hungry till now. I think I haven't been eating enough, well I know I haven't, but I mean that I haven't… sorry I'm rambling,"

Sofia leaned over the table and put a hand on his shoulder, a warm comforting smile on her face, "Harry, you did not do anything wrong. You do not have to apologize for being hungry."

"You're fine. Keep eating. We can talk after your done okay?" Laurie found it funny how she was counseling someone in a social situation when days before Sofia had to drag her into having lunch with David and Kevin.

Harry went back to his food and the four of them decided to talk as they ate themselves. Sofia decided to break the ice, "So, there is self defense class today again. Are there any other classes that are being offered? Or should we find something else to do?"

Kevin was spreading jam on a piece of toast as he spoke, "I was going to check out the garage. Dani told me there was equipment there I could use for my art work, want to make sure."

"I'm going to hang out in the library for a bit. Want to see if they have some books I've wanted to read for a while." David was picking at the bowl of cereal he had, not particularly hungry. Something from this morning had started bothering him.

Harry paused and swallowed, he'd already made his way through a considerable amount of the food he had sat down with, "Do you mind if I come with David?"

Before the older boy could respond a familiar voice spoke from behind Harry, "Actually Harry, once you finish up I need you to come with me. Hank wants to give you a check-up and make sure you're okay health wise. Then you and I are going shopping with a few other students."

Harry was confused. "Shopping? What for?"

Laurie answered, "You don't have any clothes or anything Harry, right? And no offense but I'm not sure you can make do with a borrowed outfit from Kevin and David's hoodie." She turned to Dani and found herself making a request easily, "Do you mind if I come along? I haven't had a chance to go shopping for a while." She was a bit surprised, normally she'd be rather shy about asking someone something like that.

Sofia chimed in with her usual energy, "I would like to come as well. I have not had the chance to see what any of the shops are like here."

Dani smiled, "You two are more than welcome. Two other students and another teacher are coming with as well, so we'll have a bit of a crowd though."

"…I don't think I should go Dani." Harry's hands were under the table in his lap, his eyes looking down at his tray.

Dani frowned, "Why not? You really that desperate to spend time in a library that will be here tomorrow?"

Harry squirmed a little and responded in a barely audible voice, "Well I don't have any money and I'm still not used to being around people again if I'm honest. I just… I just don't know if it's a good idea."

Dani pulled out one of the empty chairs at the table and sat, "First off, don't worry about money. The professor is footing the bill and he has more money than I think is possible to spend."

"He was able to get really nice all metal furniture for my dorm really quick and have you seen what the X-Men drive around in Harry? The guy is loaded." Kevin was leaning into his hand propped up by his elbow, the other holding half eaten toast.

Dani nodded in thanks for Kevin helping to assuage Harry's fears. "Second, you'll be fine. You've been fine around us, right? I know it's a lot of change really quick for you, but nobody here is going to hurt you or get mad at you if you seem a little odd." She leaned towards him with a smirk on her face. "Besides, have you seen some of the people here, me included? We're all pretty weird."

Sofia joined in with supportive words as well, "You do not need to worry Harry. Laurie and I will be there to and I am sure that everyone else will like just as much we do. You are quite charming after all." Sofia's smile was too infectious for Harry to keep a small upwards curve forming on his lips, his cheeks a bit red form her praise.

Harry let out a bit of an exaggerated sigh before turning to Dani, upwards curve now a full smile, "Okay. Okay. I'll go."

Dani pat his shoulder before leaning back a bit in her chair, "Atta boy! Now finish up that mountain of food and we'll go see Hank. I can give you a bit of a tour of the main school building on the way to since his lab is in the basement there."

Harry nodded and went back to his food, though a bit of anxiety was still eating at the back of his mind. The million things that could go wrong. The whispers saying that he didn't deserve to be happy. Not anymore.

XXXXXX

After Harry had finished eating he and Dani said their goodbyes to the other four students and made their way to the lab of Hank McCoy, better known as the X-Man Beast, according to what Dani told Harry. She pointed at the different rooms they walked by and told him what classes were taught where, surprising Harry with the fact that there just as many if not more classes for normal educations as there were for helping students control their powers. That fact caused yet another set of worries in his mind. He hadn't had a maths or English class in over four years. That would be a problem.

As they approached a staircase Harry couldn't keep that fact to himself, "Dani, I just realized something."

"What is it Harry?"

"…I haven't had the kind of schooling they offer here in years. The school I went to had… really specific ideas about what was worth teaching and wasn't. I haven't had a maths class in years and I don't think any of the history I learned will be of much use here." Harry realized he was getting dangerously close to being forced to elaborating on his history, but he figured the sooner he dealt with this the better.

Dani quirked an eye-brow at his comment, her expression not clear in meaning to him before she smirked, "Well good for you most of the teachers are here during the Summer and you have a couple months till school starts up proper again. I'm sure we can figure something out." Harry nodded in response and gave a quiet thank you before she turned and started moving towards Hank's lab again. Inwardly Dani was conflicted, her curiosity as to where exactly Harry came from was mounting higher and higher with each scrap of information he divulged, but she knew if she pressed too hard too quick he would clam up. She needed to be patient, for now at least.

The two continued on their way before coming to a stop in front of a large metal door. At least Harry thought it was a door, the lack of handles, knobs, or any other door opening devices made it a tad confusing for him. Some of the doors at Hogwarts may have opened on their own or been hidden behind sentient paintings, but they at least all had door opening apparatus tacked on somewhere.

Dani knocked on the maybe-door and called out, "Hey Hank? I'm here with Harry. You said you wanted to give him a once over right?"

A rumbling but rather cultured voiced responded from the other side, "Of course Dani, the door should open for you. Assuming the blasted thing isn't sticking again."

Dani pressed her hand against a pad of some kind he hadn't noticed on the door frame and caused the slab of metal to slide up into the ceiling, reminding Harry of something from muggle, no, just science fiction. He didn't want to be using terms that would remind him of Hogwarts like that. It was a dumb word anyway. Though once he followed Dani through the doorway he realized the room in it's entirety was straight out of science fiction. Various machines and apparatus he didn't have the slightest idea as to what they could be littered the room, many of them partially assembled and lining a large workbench accompanied by tools he was just as confused about.

To top it off, there was a giant blue cat man humming along to a tune only he could hear as he clacked away at a computer hooked up to a strange machine filled with a glowing green liquid. Harry wasn't all that taken aback, he was actual rather charming looking as opposed to absolutely horrifying like some of the creatures he'd encountered. His face looked a good bit like a lion and he was wearing glasses not unlike his own.

"Hello Dani, Hello Harry. I'm Doctor Henry McCoy, though many people call me Beast. It's nice to meet you. Just a moment and I'll be right with you two, Quentin's containment pod was showing some odd activity last night and I just wanted to go over the data." He clacked away at the keyboard for a few more moments, continuing to hum, Harry turning to Dani with a bemused expression mouthing the word containment pod, the woman smirking in response.

"Don't worry Harry. Quentin had some strange secondary mutation that caused his consciousness to elevate to higher plane of existence and his body to turn essentially liquefy."

Harry wasn't particularly happy with that response. "Is that a common thing to happen to mutant kids?"

Hank replied as he pressed a few final keys with the tips of his claws and turned to face the two of them, "Fortunately no. Quentin was an exceptionally powerful telepath and was abusing a drug called kick that damaged his X-gene. His secondary mutation occurred as a result, though only after he lost a psychic duel with some other students. He started a riot here and some students took it upon themselves to help fight back. We lost a particularly bright girl named Sophie."

Dani sighed and shook her head, "Jeez Hank, way to help convince the new student he made the right choice coming here."

Harry smiled and shook his head, "No Dani, I want to know about things like this. Professor Xavier told me that life here was dangerous, but life out on the streets would be so much worse if people ever found out I was a mutant. I'm inclined to believe him based on what I've read. Plus, hearing things like this gives me an idea of what to expect, though I imagine student lead riots aren't common right?" Honestly a riot sounded much more manageable to him than another one of his misadventures from Hogwarts.

Hank smiled widely and spoke in a cheery tone, "Only sometimes. Now come over here so I can make sure you're put together."

Harry sat on the table as Hank instructed, the furry man checking his reflexes and blood pressure before grabbing a stethoscope from a nearby tray of medical implements.

"Okay Harry, just take your shirt off for me for a second."

Harry froze, eyes shooting wide. He was really regretting this already. There was no way he was getting out of this either. Luckily, Hank noticed the panic and turned to Dani, giving her a look she quickly read as her being kicked out.

Dani frowned a bit but relented, "I'll be right outside Harry." She quickly turned and headed towards the door which opened automatically for her.

Hank turned to Harry, trying his best to give him a supportive expression. "Doctor-patient confidentiality is something I take quite seriously. Assuming you're not hiding some awful biological weapon inside you then I promise not to divulge what you've got under your shirt so to speak."

Harry chuckled a bit before nodding, pulling the oversized black shirt he was wearing off and setting it in his lap, averting eye contact with the large feline man.

Hank couldn't stop a look of extreme sadness and sympathy from showing on his face once he saw Harry's naked torso and arms. He was even thinner, bordering on emaciated, than Hank had thought based on his first look at him. A large angry red scar ran down his right arm, from his mid forearm to the meeting of his bicep and shoulder, obviously rather new. A large circular mark was on his left arm, one that was on opposite sides of his arm, meaning something must have gone all the way through, a large something at that. The scar looked old though, and the wound seemed like it had healed well. He checked Harry's heart beat with his stethoscope, the boy wearing a grim expression and trying not to cry.

When he asked Harry to turn around, the boy sat still for a moment before nodding quickly and doing as he was asked. Hank's heart sank at the sight of Harry's back. There was a litany of scars and marks, some stretching across his back from his waist to the opposite shoulder. He took his stethoscope off and sighed. Before pulling a chair so he could sit in front of Harry.

"You can put your shirt on and turn around Harry." Harry did just that, though he refused to make eye contact with Hank.

"I'm not going to make you answer any questions or demand you tell me your life story, but I do want you to know I'm here to help. I've unfortunately known far too many people who probably have stories like yours. There's so much pain that most people go through as a mutant. I'm no stranger to it myself."

Harry sat in silence for a moment before swallowing, then speaking. "I didn't know my name till I was three years old. I was called "boy" or "you" or "he". When I was older I was "freak" just as often as all those combined. Outside of a few people, no one called me "Harry" outside of school."

Hank took his glasses from his face, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe the tears on them away.

Harry had started and he wasn't going to stop, "I didn't know why they treated me the way they did. I still don't. I don't understand how someone could a hurt a child for just being a little different." Tears were running from his eyes and sobs began to wrack his body. "When I went away to the school I was at, I thought that I could belong there. That I wouldn't have to be scared. Then when that all fell apart I didn't know what to do. I thought living by myself, just not being involved, would work." Hank had pulled Harry into a hug now, the boy quickly giving in and burying his head into the chest of the man. "I couldn't do it. I saw Laurie about to be hurt and I couldn't stand by. I'm so scared though. I don't want to try again." He was breathing heavily now instead of hysterical with tears, but he still didn't let go of Hank. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just couldn't"

Hank quickly cut him off, "Please don't apologize. You did nothing wrong. You don't deserve any of what you described. I know there's more to this, but I'm not concerned with that now. You're safe here. You can get help here."

Harry let go of the man in looked up into his cat-like eyes that were red with tears. "Okay." He rubbed his eyes and sniffled a few times before Hank offered him a handkerchief which he gladly accepted.

The blue furred mutant walked over to the tray of medical implements before picking up a vial and syringe then a few other things. "Harry, if you don't mind I'd like to take a blood sample before you go. Just want to make sure you're all fine." Harry nodded and rolled up his sleeves before Hank came over and made the necessary preparations. The doctor made note of how Harry wasn't phased in the slightest at the needle entering his vein, like it wasn't even noticeable to him.

After Hank bandaged his he put his large paw clawed hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes, "I know you're scared. I know that you must be so hurt you don't know what to do. If you want, we can find some time where you and I can talk, help you make sense if things. I'm often busy with the X-Men and my research, but this is something I'm more than willing to do."

Harry shook his head, "No Mr. McCoy, that's fine. I can-"

"Harry. I can give you an hour or so of my time every few days at the very LEAST. I want to help, if you will let me." Harry simply stared at his hands, Hank realizing he might be trying too hard. The time comment probably didn't help. "This will stay between us, at least until you're willing to tell someone else. What matters is making sure you get through this."

Harry bit his lip before giving a slow nod and responding in a low whisper, "Okay. I think… I think I'd like that."

Hank smiled, his sharp canines glinting in the overhead fluorescent lights, "Excellent. I'll figure out the time I have available and talk to you later." He then moved to return the chair he'd taken back to its original location. "You better get going. Dani mentioned a shopping trip last night with other students. You wouldn't want to keep them waiting long I imagine."

Harry nodded as he stood, before moving towards the door, stopping and turning around halfway. "Mr. McCoy?"

Hank turned from where he was beginning work at another computer terminal, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Thank you."

Hank smiled widely, "It's my pleasure Harry."

Harry turned and exited the room, finding Dani leaning against the wall opposite the door, a look of mild concern on her face. "Everything okay? Took a while longer than I expected."

Harry nodded motioned for her to start moving with him, "I'm fine. Mr. McCoy was just being thorough and wanted to take some blood. We should get moving though right?"

Dani frowned slightly before taking the lead, keeping her questions to herself. "Yeah, let's get moving. Hope was super excited about this the other day and Megan is looking forward to meeting you."

Harry turned his head without breaking stride, "Are these other students?"

"Yep. You should get along great with them. Megan is an absolute sweet heart and Hope is wonderful too. They can't go home for the break, so they're stuck on campus. Both need new clothes like you do and I promised them and one of the teachers we would make some time today to go shopping. I'm sure they won't mind you and the other girls tagging along."

"Which teacher?"

"Jean-Paul Beaubier. Northstar. He can be rather intense and off putting when you first meet him, but he's a good man and rather funny." Dani smiled at the thought of how Jean-Paul had handled his flight class as of late. The man was going to get an ulcer.

"Okay. I should probably tell you that I know next to nothing about the X-Men, other than you all being super heroes of a sort. My school was rather isolated so I'm fairly out of the loop when it comes to these things."

"You'll learn as you go then." The two of them had reached the front entrance of the main building, seeing that the rest of their shopping companions were waiting at the front gate.

Harry saw Laurie and Sofia talking to two other girls, though Sofia was doing most of the talking on their end and Laurie was only occasionally speaking from what he could see. The two other girls he assumed were Hope and Megan, though he wasn't sure which was which. One was a fairly tall girl, though most people were tall compared to him and his measly hundred and fifty-eight centimeters, with chin length brown hair haled out of her face with two hair clips on either side of her face. She was dressed quite nicely in a knee length pleated skirt and green sweater. The other girl was a little less normal, she had mid-length bright pink hair tucked behind her ears, which were elf-like in nature, and sticking out from behind her polka-dot print blouse were large rainbow-colored butterfly wings. The man had pointed ears as well, though not as much as the winged girl, and wavy black hair that framed his rather intense expression. Harry could tell this was Northstar as Dani had said.

Dani waved at them as she approached and called out, "Hey, sorry for the wait. Hank ran more than his usual gauntlet of medical tests on Harry here."

The man crossed his arms and squinted, "So this is Harry. Hm. He's rather small, isn't he?" His voice had an accent Harry recognized as French, but it was different from the students from Beauxbatons.

Harry frowned, he normally didn't have too many problems with remarks on his height and overall size, but he usually didn't get them twice a day. "Well sir, try living off scavenged food from supermarket dumpsters and tell see what it does for your bulk."

Northstar frowned but kept himself from responding when he saw the mild scowl Dani was giving him.

Sofia ran forward, the arms of the two girls he knew were Megan and Hope, just not which was which, in her arms. "Harry, I want you to meet Megan and Hope!" Harry couldn't help but smile wide at the girl's energy and intensity.

Harry gave a small wave and introduced himself, "Hi. I'm Harry, as everyone seems to have pointed out."

The girl with pink hair and wings responded first, "I'm Megan. It's nice to meet you." She smiled as shook his hand. Harry instantly noticed she had a rather thick Welsh accent, deciding to make comment on it later.

The tall brown-haired girl then introduced herself, "Hope Abbot. Sofia was telling us how you swooped in and rescued everyone yesterday." She spoke with what he believed was called a "posh" accent, but her relaxed posture and wry smile stood a bit at odds with how refined she sounded.

Harry blushed and gave an exasperated look at Sofia, who only smiled wider. Laurie gave a sympathetic shrug. "Oh, well. Just did what any other guy with super powers would do."

Northstar interjected before anyone could say anything else, "Okay, okay. We can save pleasantries and senseless teenage flirting for when we're on the road. There's a sale at the department store and I want to be there before all the house wives pick it clean." Harry wasn't sure how to feel about the man yet, though he cracked a smile at his last comment.

"Coarse vaguely sexist comments aside, Jean-Paul has a point. Let's go commandeer one of the school vans." Dani motioned for the group to follow her.

Moments late Harry found himself sitting between Hope and Megan in the backseat of a moving van, finding it hard to not blush for some reason. Sofia and Laurie were in the seats in front of them chatting away, while Dani was in the driver seat laughing at a comment from Jean-Paul who was sat in the passenger seat. He still found it hard to believe that he'd been a homeless dirt covered mess only yesterday and he was now where he was. Maybe things were actually going to get better?

 **(Author's Note): Next chapter will have the first real action scene, some real interaction between Harry, Hope, and Megan, and more Northstar sass. We'll also see mom mode Dani, David being a nerd, and Hank losing his shit. It also won't be a total emotional rollercoaster and we'll get to see something from Harry other than emotional turmoil and insecurity. Which won't be the norm for too long I promise. He'll get better.**

 **Though the wait might be a bit longer for the next chapter. I start college again soon and have to focus more on writing code than on writing this. Shouldn't be too long though. Hopefully you all look forward to it.**


	4. Running On Nothing

**(Author's Note): First, I'm sorry for the wait and the fact that this chapter isn't as much of a thing as I implied it would be. Haven't had much time or ambition. Depression, college, and other things. Second, thank you for all the follows. Hopefully I can get the number of favorites to match it. As for people who have reviewed, I sent a response through PMs to a few, don't want to clog up my notes and inflate my word count with responses in the chapters themselves. I'll try to be consistent with responding to them when I can. I'll probably do that around when I post new chapters. This chapter is the first chapter with any real action in it. Hopefully it's decent, I've never written an action scene before, but I gave it my absolute best. I'll try to get the next out sooner.**

Harry had now learned the hard way that agreeing to go shopping with the group of people he was in the company of, especially when he was in actual need of clothes, was a quick trip to being little more than a dress-up doll for them. The car ride had been mostly uneventful. Hope and Megan had started to ask him various questions that he was finding it increasingly difficult to provide non-answers for until Laurie and Sofia had come to his aid by consistently bringing up inane small talk. Dani and Jean-Paul had been engrossed in their own conversation at the front of the car. When the seven of them had arrived at the Salem Center mall Dani asked Harry if he had any preferences for where he got his clothes from. Harry deeply regretted his answer.

"I've… I've never been clothes shopping before. In the U.K. or here in the States." The wide-eyed looks he received, Hope's and Sofia's bordering on abject terror, were worrying. Though he saw a completely different expression on Jean-Paul, something between a Cheshire Cat and cartoon shark smiling, which filled him with an unexpected sense of dread. Against all his self-preservation instincts he continued to speak. "I had hand-me-downs. My relatives were… thrifty. Then I had rob-a uniform that I wore at the boarding school I was at. I've never had a chance to really get my "own" clothes."

"Well, Harry, we'll have to fix that." Jean Pierre moved forward and set a hand each on Hope and Sofia's shoulders, the smile he wore still not looking like it belonged on his face. "Won't we girls?"

Sofia and Hope's response was to charge forward, grab a hand from Harry, and then charging forward to the large department store that served as one of the mall's main attractions. The rest of the group followed seconds later, Dani unable to suppress her laughter at the ridiculousness of the two teenage girl's reactions.

Laurie had an entirely different response. "Dani, do you think Harry was being honest. That his relatives were just…" She paused for a moment, "Thrifty? Because it didn't seem completely- ".

Dani interrupted with a quiet voice that was a total shift from the jovial laughter she'd let out moments before, "Completely honest? I'd be very surprised if he was. But that shouldn't be too surprising." Laurie looked down with a small frown before nodding. She and the others who'd been the first to meet Harry had already realized and accepted the only way they were going to get any more information from Harry was if the boy gave it willingly. Questions of any real depth wouldn't work for the time being.

Megan piped in, confusion evident in her tone, "Does Harry just like to come off as mysterious or something? He didn't answer any of Hope and I's questions. He just clammed up on us or had half-answers that just raised more questions."

Jean-Paul had turned from watching Harry being pulled forward by two rather focused looking young women. "I don't think it's anything like that Megan. It's more that he doesn't know how to handle being the center of anyone's attention very well." He gave a glance towards Dani, "Sound about right Moonstar?"

Dani sighed, "That's around the same lines that Shan and I came to. There's a bit more to it than that though, but it's not my place to say, especially when I don't have any concrete details."

"Didn't he tell you anything more about himself when he was speaking to the professor?" Laurie questioned.

Dani shook her head, "No, nothing more than what he told us, save his last name. Potter."

"Harry Potter? It sounds like the name of someone from a book." Megan tilted her head as she spoke, in rather perfect timing with Harry turning around to see what everyone had been doing as he'd been dragged through the parking lot.

If he was honest, beyond a mild crush or two he'd had back in Hogwarts he'd put little thought into the fairer sex as anything other than friends for the most part. He'd had a crush on Cho Chang, but that quickly fizzled in the wake of everything that happened to him. There was one other person, but that was a can of worms he didn't want to open. This considerable lack of experience was not enough to prevent him from understanding that the reason why he was suddenly blushing quite furiously and had turned away from the fairy-like girl was that he found her incredibly cute. He'd noticed she was rather fetching when he'd met her back at the school, but just now, with her head tilted and nose scrunched up in a thoughtful expression he became incredibly aware of just how much. Unknown to him Jean-Paul had noticed his fierce blush in reaction to looking at Megan and filed that away for later teasing.

The group had now made their way into one of the larger department stores in the mall, Sofia and Hope still leading the charge to the men's department with harry in grasp.

Laurie had decided then to further explain Harry's situation to Megan, "Harry is really nice and actually pretty funny. He just takes a moment to get used to people. I'm not completely sure how long as I think he got as comfortable as he has with me and Dani and everyone else that ran into him so soon because we were the first people he'd met in months."

Megan was surprised at that, "Months? I know you said he was homeless but surely he would have talked to people?"

Dani answered her, "It might sound odd but from everything he's told me he's been alone for a while now. Even before he was living like he was. But that's enough of talking about him literally behind his back. He'll open up to people eventually." Megan gave an affirmative nod, she was being rather rude. Deciding to make it up to the boy, even if he was unaware of her behavior, the girl ran to catch-up with him and his kidnappers.

XXXXXX

Harry had been through a lot in his almost fifteen years, but nothing had prepared him for the kind of exhaustion and amusement shopping with two passionate teenage girls could provide. He was currently sitting in the mall food court with Jean Paul as they waited for the rest of their group to rejoin them. They'd sat in silence, Jean Paul occasional glancing at Harry in a look of what the boy assumed was continued appraisal. Harry sat fiddling with one of the buttons on the denim jacket he was now wearing. Along with the red low-cut canvas shoes he was wearing the jacket was the only piece of clothing that Harry had picked himself, Megan and Laurie had prodded him into not letting the other girls be completely responsible for his new wardrobe and at least pick something out. Harry had been mostly compliant with the two girls, save for refusing anything with short sleeves unless he was given a button down or jacket to wear with it. He really didn't want to explain the obvious scars he had his arms, Hank having seen them that morning was enough. After two hours of trying on different combinations of pants, shirts, shoes, and the occasional jacket he was left with enough clothes to wear for about two weeks without having to repeat anything. Everything was still a bit big on him, Northstar had insisted as Harry was bound to gain a few sizes with a proper diet and it wouldn't do to have to replace all his clothes in just a few months. Northstar had taken Harry to put the numerous bags he had into the van before waiting in the food court while the girls went and did their own shopping.

Harry wasn't sure of what to make of the man. He was hard to nail down with his sharp comments that teetered between insults and harsh jokes, but Harry could tell there wasn't any genuine malice behind his comments, at least he felt he could tell. A few awkward minutes later Jean stood up with a stretch and a groan.

His arms fell to his sigh as the groan turned to a sigh and the older man locked eyes with Harry, "I'm going to grab some coffee, you want anything?"

Harry shook his head, "Ah, I'm fine thank you."

Jean nodded, his expression blank. "Suit yourself. Try not to get into any trouble alright? Dani wouldn't be very pleased with me if I lost her new pet project."

Harry frowned as the man walked away towards a coffee shop in the corner of the wide-open mess of seating and greasy food stands, a gaudy fountain sat in the middle of it all. The mall reminded him a lot of Diagon Alley, but he quickly squashed any desire to reminisce when a strange feeling ran down his spine, somewhere between warning and a call to action. He stood, eyes narrowing a little as he clenched his fists. Just as he was about to try and find Jean and let him know something felt wrong in a way Harry knew was more than paranoia, loud cracking sounds echoed everywhere.

Harry slowly began walking towards the fountain where the water had stopped its flow and the concrete making up the awful decoration was starting to fracture. Other shoppers were keeping their distance while trading concerned looks with each other whereas Harry kept going forwards. He could feel something coming, the sensation on the periphery of his awareness, and knew he had to do something about whatever was going to inevitably going to burst from the fountain in front of him.

Just as he began considering his options, the ground let out a loud almost groan like sound and the fountain caved in on itself, falling into the ground and leaving a gaping hole behind. The murmuring crowd quickly turned to a screaming one as they all made to get as far away from the new fissure as quickly as possible. Harry remained still a few feet away and had anyone taken a moment to examine the boy they would have noticed his hair blowing in a non-existent wind and his eyes seemingly glowing.

A moment later a large hulking creature burst from the hole letting out a scream of rage, its skin brown like clay and globe like head featureless save for a massive maw filled with teeth and a tongue that seemed far too long for it to be anything other than sinister. The creature was towering above Harry now, arms like redwoods pulled back and ready to smash down onto the boy. Harry's immediate response was to dive away, landing on his stomach and almost knocking the wind out of him when the shockwave of the beast's blow ruined any chance of graceful landing. Harry quickly scrambled to his feet and took off running, blind to the screams and panic that had ensued with the arrival of his pursuer.

Harry quickly realized the creature was slow and not particularly intelligent as he took the occasional glance behind him whilst running, as instead of simply jumping at him the beast had taken to lumbering forward, its gait awkward and somewhere between Gorilla and spastic cartoon. Its body was as featureless as it's face, creepy mouth and tongue notwithstanding, and oddly proportioned. The torso rather small for it's trunk like legs and arms that were of similar lengths. Harry kept himself from considering the creature for too long and instead looked inward, pulling on the feeling he'd felt just the night before when he'd intervened on the fight his new friends had been in.

It was sort of like using a wand, but different. A wand was almost like a hose with a valve to him, open and shut on command. This was more trying to use a well, having to pump everything to the surface himself. The analogy wasn't perfect, as he couldn't cast proper spells like this, but it didn't matter to the boy as he was more focused on the creature bearing down on him than proper prose to describe his tenuous connection to his magic. Harry let out a grunt of effort as he shoved both arms forward, forcing what he'd brought up to the surface and barreling down at the creature. The creature was knocked onto its back upon contact with a compressed ball of kinetic energy that warped space around it, but immediately began rising to its feet again. Harry took the opportunity to put more distance between himself and his opponent and quickly pulled on his magic again, trying to focus more into his next blast.

The creature let out another roar as it regained its footing and began lumbering toward Harry again, before suddenly charging forward at a speed Harry wasn't expecting. Harry forced out what magic he'd been able to channel before diving out of the way of the creature, the kinetic blast not even staggering the creature this time. Harry watched as the creature, instead of barreling forward into the wall that had been a few feet behind him, somehow ignored the laws of inertia and immediately turned and continued after the boy at high speed. Harry was scrambling to get to his feet before the creature was able to reach him when a figure sailed over his head and smashed feet first into the creature's torso, sending it flying back and through the air.

The figure flipped back after making contact and landing on his feet, ready to make another move if need be. Harry recognized it was Jean Paul and scrambled back to his feet to stand alongside him as the creature seemed to be inanimate for the moment.

"I believe I asked you not to get into any trouble Harry. Care to explain why you felt it necessary to fight a monster like this instead of finding me or Dani?"

Harry frowned at the man before turning to face the creature and begin pulling on his magic again, "Sorry sir, but I wasn't going to let anyone get hurt if I could help and this thing seems to be after me in particular. It started moving right for me when it popped out of the hole where that fountain was."

Northstar gave Harry an unimpressed look before focusing back on the creature. "I see, well, stand back and let me deal with this. It wouldn't do for an X-man to let someone else deal with giant monsters in their hometown, let alone a child." Just as Northstar finished speaking the brown monster began moving again, slowly rising to its feet as though nothing had happened, though two indents were now it's chest where Northstar had made impact.

Harry ignored the comment and instead pulled further on his magic, trying to remember how it felt to cast one spell in particular with a wand. Northstar himself flew into the air before diving leg first once again at the creature. The creature snarled before lashing out with speed it hadn't had before, smacking the flying man with one its arms and sending Jean Paul flying into to the air. Having experienced this exact situation more times than he could count, other than a grunt of pain his response was to quickly right himself midair and fly right back into the fray, this time at a much greater speed. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to push too hard, he was rather fond of the dress shoes he was wearing which weren't exactly suited for combat and he wanted minimize collateral to the only decent shopping mall in Salem Center, but he needed to put this creature down before it could hurt anyone.

Just as he was about to strike the creature with a literal flying roundhouse, he heard Harry let out a grunt of effort and saw a flash of light before the creature was sent blasting back and its left arm was suddenly rubble flying in the air. Jean Paul was quick to dodge before flying over to Harry, who was obviously panting in exhaustion.

"Harry, stand down! You could have taken me out with the shrapnel from that!"

Harry grimaced and turned to the ground, "I'm sorry! But you can't expect me to stand here and just let you fight alone!"

"Yes I can! You're a student at Xavier's institute now! You can't-"

Harry watched as Jean was cut off by the creature suddenly roaring out and spitting a massive torrent of fire towards the two of them. Something inside Harry snapped as he forced Jean out of the way. His eyes lit up and the air around him suddenly seemed alive.

Harry's voice echoed throughout the food court as the fire almost made contact with him though he sounded as if he were whispering, "Fiendfyre."

Jean watched as the flames suddenly wrapped around Harry before blasting around him and turning a dark red color, animals of all shapes and sizes being able to me made out in the undulating mass of magic and fire. The creature was suddenly gone, swallowed in what had been in its own fire, before all the flames pulled in, swirling and almost laughing at the screams of exertion Harry was now letting out, trying to keep the flames from getting away from him.

Jean Paul watched as the flames began to swirl around Harry, trapping him in the middle of them. With one last scream Harry pulled them into himself, snuffing them out with everything he could, refusing to lose control. Moments later, they were gone, leaving a heaving, crying, exhausted boy.

Harry let out a sob, unable to hold it in anymore, "I'm sorry! I just had to, had to do something!"

Jean Paul's response was to kneel down and put a hand on his shoulder, "I understand. I do. Come on, let's find Dani and try and get all this sorted out."

 **(AN2): Some updates on continuity and a little proof I'm not making this up as I go along. I took the time to re-read a LOT of X-Men comics, notably a lot of Clermont's X-treme X-men that ran alongside Morrison's New X-Men. The continuity is a lot more concurrent than I realized and incorporating events from it is something I really want to do, especially as it gives me reason to have Harry interacting with Sage and Bishop before the murder of Emma. He'll also be meeting Kitty, who is currently a college student at the University of Chicago and has very different perspective on the X-Men and being a superhero than you'll be familiar with if you've read recent comics. So our current timeline looks something like this: Harry is found and meets Academy X characters (New Mutants v.2) – Harry is involved with the X-treme X-men (X-treme X-men #26 – 30 – God Loves, Man Kills II) – Harry goes back to school (New Mutants v.2 again) – More X-treme X-men shenanigans – We wrap the Morrison X-men run – Academy X/X-Men – M-Day.**

 **M-Day will be the end of what I'm calling the first 'Book' of this fic. I have a lot of issues with M-Day, though it's thankfully nowhere near as bad as the recent Inhumans Vs. X-men was, and what it did to X-Men's books and continuity. It will not resolve the same way it did canonically. It must happen for what I have planned, but it is not going to be the same.**

 **The reason why I'm sharing all this is to show I have a plan for what I'm doing, this isn't a seat of my pants thing. This is me engaging in the closest thing I can do to my childhood dream of writing an X-Men comic and giving Harry a proper character arc building from his early series self, before he becomes, well a rather lacking protagonist I am not personally a fan of. I'm taking this pretty seriously, at least to the point that it stays fun.**

 **Stay classy.**


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